Ask the monitor about eye problems among the students. The questions are as follows:

Q1: How many students are there in the class?

Q2: How many of you are wearing glasses?

Q3: Why are you wearing glasses?

Q4: Why do you have eye problems?

【设计说明】：通过对班长做一个小采访，来导入话题和文章体裁。

2. A short story.

Tell a story that a patient with eye problems is helped by Dr. Ma, a famous eye doctor. By doing so, the key new words are introduced and students are inspired to guess the meaning of the new words in the context. The key new words include:

patient blind blindness

affect afford volunteer

operate cure

【设计说明】：用讲故事创设语境，呈现阅读材料中的关键生词。

3. Completing the story.

Let students see the story again with some words missing. Students are expected to complete the story with the new words they have just learned.

【设计说明】：用刚学到的生词填空，完成短文，巩固学生对词义的掌握。

4. Predicting questions.

⑴Explain the meaning of the word interview.

⑵Show the importance of asking questions in an interview.

⑶Encourage students to ask Dr. Ma some questions about eye problems.

【设计说明】：通过阅读前的预测活动，有效地激发学生已有的背景知识。

Step2. Be a wise reader.

Students are going to read an interview with Dr Ma. But the interviewer’s questions are missing. Students are expected to read the answers quickly and then decide which question will be asked. The following is used as an example here.

Answer1: Blindness affects about 45 million people around the world, mostly in poor countries, and about 80 percent of these cases can be cured or prevented. However, many people do not have the money for medical treatment.

Question1:

□A. Dr. Ma, could you tell us something about blindness?

□B. Dr. Ma, how many people have eye problems?

【设计说明】：逆向思维，让学生根据采访答案，来判定对应的采访问题。

Step3. Be a sharp reader.

1. The first part of the logo

Use the first part of the logo of ORBIS to help students to see how serious eye problems are on the earth.

【设计说明】：创造性地挖掘出logo的象征意义，帮助学生掌握相关信息。

2. The second part of the logo

Use the second part of the logo to help students to know why a plane is needed by ORBIS doctors.

【设计说明】：突出logo中飞机的象征意义，重点讲述ORBIS的工作方式。

3. The extension of the logo

Get students to know the circle with a small part missing indicates that there are still some places where ORBIS can’t go to help and that more help is needed.

【设计说明】：大胆地改动了一下logo，奇妙地引出Dr. Ma的希望。

Step4. Be a critical reader

Inspire students to be independent readers by voicing their own opinions about what is the best way to support ORBIS. An controversial sentence is selected from the interview and students are encouraged to discuss about the issue.

The sentence is: We hope more people will support us by sending donations to us.

Dr Ma : Blindness affects about 45 million people around the world, mostly in poor countries, and about 80 percent of these cases can be cured or prevented. However, many people do not have the money for medical treatment.

Interviewer : How does ORBIS help?

Dr Ma: ORBIS uses a flying eye hospital to visit poor countries. On the plane, volunteer doctors perform operations. The plane is also used as a teaching centre.

Interviewer : Dr. Ma, you said that your work on a plane. Why don’t you work in a hospital?

Dr Ma: Many of our patients are so poor that they can’t afford to travel to hospital, so we have to go to them. Also, local doctors and nurses can come to our plane to learn about eye operations. We teach them new skills and share our knowledge. They can even watch the operations on video. By training local doctors and nurses, we hope to help even more people.

Interviewer : How many operations do you perform during a visit?

Dr Ma: During my last visit, I operated on 150 patients on the plane. When I worked in a hospital, I used to do only two or three operations a day. It’s hard work and we need to work very quickly, but I am used to it.

Interviewer : You’ve done such an important job that people must be really grateful to you.

Dr Ma: Yes, indeed they are. However, the most important thing for us is that we can help people see again. I’m proud to be able to help so many people.

Interviewer: Thank you very much for your time, Dr. Ma. Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?

Dr Ma: We’re the lucky ones. Modern medicine is developing so quickly that we can treat and cure most eye problems and improve the lives of patients. All we need is enough money to carry on with our work. We hope people will support our work by sending donations to ORBIS.

T: Good morning. It’s my first time being here, I’m very glad to see you guys and I’d like to know something about you. Who is the monitor?

Ss: (In chorus) Jim is.

M: (standing up) I am the monitor.

T: (walking to Jim) Nice to meet you.

M: Nice to meet you.

T: Can I ask you some questions?

M: Sure. Go ahead, please.

T: How many students are there in the class?

M: Forty-five.

T: How many of you are wearing glasses?

M: Em. Let me see…Thirty.

T: Oh, The number is very large. Why are you wearing glasses?

M: Because we can’t see clearly.

T: Then why do you have eye problems?

M: Maybe because we watch too much TV. (Some students are laughing.)

S1: (Other students are joining.) Every day we have to do lots of homework. That’s why we have poor eyesight.

S2: And some boys just spend too much time playing computer games. (Students are laughing and feeling less tense.)

T: So if we don’t use eyes in a right way, we may have eye problems. Now let’s meet a famous eye doctor, Dr Ma. A few days ago, he just helped a poor student with eye problems. Would you like to listen to his story?

Ss: Yeah.

T: Now listen carefully.

【设计说明】：通过对班长做一个小采访，来导入话题和文章体裁。

2. A short story.

T: Tom is a poor student, he used to be a patient with eye problems. He needs to see a doctor. Now tell me where we can see many patients?

Ss: In a hospital.

T: Well done. A patient means a sick person. Now repeat the word after me.

(Writing ‘patient’ on the blackboard and getting students to read it aloud.)

T: (Continuing the story) If Tom doesn’t see a doctor immediately, he will become blind and can see nothing. What does blind mean? It means …

Ss: Can’t see anything.

T: Right. A blind person can see nothing. And the illness is called blindness.

(Writing ‘blindness’ on the blackboard and getting students to read it aloud.)

T: (Continuing the story) Because of the blindness, he couldn’t do many things, can he read, write or play computer games?

Ss: No.

T: So the blindness affected his life a lot, and here ‘affect’ means making changes. For example, smoking will make some changes, bad changes to our health, so we can say:

S: Smoking will affect our health.

(Writing ‘affect’ on the blackboard and getting students to read it aloud.)

T: (Continuing the story) Blindness affected Tom’s life a lot, so he needed to go to hospital. But he didn’t have enough money. He couldn’t afford to go to hospital. Do you have enough money to go to school?

S: Yeah.

T: So we can say…?

S: We can afford to go to school.

T: Well done, but in some poor areas, some children don’t have enough money to go to school, so we can say…?

S: They can’t afford to go to school.

(Writing ‘afford’ on the blackboard and getting students to read it aloud.)

T: Tom couldn’t afford to go to hospital, so he was sad. Luckily, an eye doctor, Dr. Ma came to him and would like to help him without asking for any money, so we call Dr Ma a volunteer doctor. So does a volunteer do a job for money or for free?

S: For free.

(Writing ‘volunteer’ on the blackboard and getting students to read it aloud.)

T: (Continuing the story) Dr. Ma operated on Tom, cutting into his eyes and taking away something bad. Here ‘operate’ means that a doctor uses a knife, cut into one’s body and take away something bad. Its noun form is ‘operation’.

(Writing ‘operate’ and ‘operation’ on the blackboard and getting students to read them aloud.)

T: Dr Ma performed an operation on Tom, and the operation was very successful. Tom’s blindness was cured. That’s to say, the operation made his blindness go away. Can he see things clearly now?

Ss: Yes, he can.

(Writing ‘cure’ on the blackboard and getting students to read it aloud.)

T: (Continuing the story) Yeah, he can see things very clearly, and he is very grateful to Dr Ma. This is the story. What do you think of Dr Ma?

S1: He is very kind.

S2: He is helpful.

T: Yeah, I agree with you.

【设计说明】：用讲故事创设语境，呈现阅读材料中的关键生词。

3. Completing the story.

T:(Showing the slide) Nowlet’s see the story again, but some words are missing here. Would you complete the story with the new words? Let’s have a try.

affect blindness cure

patient operate afford

operation volunteer

Tom is a student, he used to be a _____ with eye problems. Because of the _____, he couldn’t see anything at all. The illness ______ him a lot and changed his life from bad to worse.

He didn’t have enough money, and couldn’t ______ to go to hospital. Luckily, a _____doctor, Dr Ma, would like to help him for free. He ______ on him, cutting into his eyes and taking away something bad.

The _____ was very successful and Tom’s blindness was _____. Now, Tom can see things very clearly.

【设计说明】：用刚学到的生词填空，完成短文，巩固学生对词义的掌握。

4. Predicting questions.

T: Do you still remember what I did with your monitor at the beginning of our lesson?

Ss: You asked our monitor some questions.

T: Actually, I had a short interview with him. Let’s see the word ‘interview’. (Showing the slide)

T: The word ‘interview’ is made up of two parts. The first part ‘inter’ means between, from one to another. The part ‘view’ means ideas, opinions. So what does the word mean?

S1: Share information.

S2: Exchanging ideas.

T: In order to exchange ideas, one person has to ask right questions and the other has to answer it properly. So what’s the most important thing in an interview?

S: Asking right questions.

T: Now suppose the famous eye doctor is coming to our class. What questions will you ask Dr Ma about protecting your eyes? Discuss in pairs and then tell me your questions.

（Ss discuss with the partner）

S1: Dr Ma, why do you want to be a volunteer doctor?

S2: Dr Ma, what can we do to protect our eyes?

S3: Dr Ma, I like eating very much. What kind of food is good for our eyes?

（Ss are laughing）

T: A good job. You are good interviewers and have asked interesting questions.

【设计说明】：通过阅读前的预测活动，有效地激发学生已有的背景知识。

Step2. Be a wise reader.

T: Here’s an interview with Dr Ma. But the interviewer’s questions are missing. please read the answers quickly and see which question will be asked.

Answer1: Blindness affects about 45 million people around the world, mostly in poor countries, and about 80 percent of these cases can be cured or prevented. However, many people do not have the money for medical treatment.

Question1:

□A. Dr. Ma, could you tell us something about blindness?

□B. Dr. Ma, how many people have eye problems?

T: What’s the most important thing in choosing the right question?

S: Catching the top sentence.

T: That’s it! The top sentence must be the answer of the interviewer’s question. Let’s see the next one.

Answer2: ORBIS uses a flying eye hospital to visit poor countries. On the plane, volunteer doctors perform operations. The plane is also used as a teaching centre.

Question2:

□A. How do doctors visit poor countries?

□B. How does ORBIS help?

T: The word ‘also’ in the last sentence is very useful. Do you know why?

S: It tells the two things which doctors do to help people in poor countries.

T: Very good. Let’s move to third one.

Answer3: Many of our patients are so poor that they can’t afford to travel to hospital, so we have to go to them. Also, local doctors and nurses can come to our plane to learn about eye operations. We teach them new skills and share our knowledge. They can even watch the operations on video. By training local doctors and nurses, we hope to help even more people.

Question3:

□A. Why are your patients so poor?

□B. Why does ORBIS need a plane?

T: Now can you tell me which word is very useful in find the main idea?

Ss: ‘Also’!

T: Well done. You’re learning fast. It tells us the reason why ORBIS needs a plane. Let’s see the fourth paragraph.

Answer4: We’re the lucky ones. Modern medicine is developing so quickly that we can treat and cure most eye problems and improve the lives of patients. All we need is enough money to carry on with our work. We hope people will support our work by sending donations to ORBIS.

Question4:

□A. Can medicine cure all eye problems?

□B. Dr. Ma, what’s your hope?

T: What does Dr. Ma try to say here?

S1: ORBIS needs more help.

S2: He hopes more money will be donated to ROBIS..

T: So the right chioce is B. These questions are very important. They can help us get the main idea of each paragraph. From the the questions, we can also know the interview is about a charity called …?

Ss: ORBIS!

【设计说明】：逆向思维，让学生根据采访答案，来判定对应的采访问题。

Step3. Be a sharp reader.

1. Logo1:

T: Right! It is about a charity named ORBIS. Now let’s have a look at its logo (Showing the slide) . This is the first part of the logo, what does it look like?

Ss: An eye!

T: Yes. But what else does it look like?

Ss: The earth?

T: Yeah, you’re clever. It means the serious eye problems on the earth. Open your books, read Question1 and Answer 1 and then tell me how serious the eye problems are.

(Ss are reading Question1 and Answer1)

T:How serious? The numbers may help you

(Showing the slide).

S: Blindness affects about 45 million people around the world, mostly in poor countries.

T: Can they be cured or prevented? How many of them can be cured or prevented?

S: Yes, about 80 percent of the cases can be cured or prevented.

T: Then why don’t they go to hospital?

S: Because many people have no money for medical treatment.

【设计说明】：创造性地挖掘出logo的象征意义，帮助学生掌握相关信息。

2. Logo2:

T: So much for the first part of the logo, let’s come to the second part. Is there anything different from the first one? (Showing the slide).

S: In the second one, there is a plane.

T: Yes, this is the real logo of ORBIS. Why is there a plane here?

S: It uses a plane to visit poor countries.

T: Good answer. Actually it’s a flying eye hospital. Now let’s read Question2 and Question 3, and try to complete the following flow chart about ORBIS. (Showing the slide).

T: (After several minutes) Have you found the answers? Let’s have a check. What kind of hospital is it?

S: It’s a flying eye hospital.

T: Right. Why does it use a plane to visit the patients?

S: It uses a plane to visit poor countries, because many people are so poor that they can’t afford to go to hospital.

T: Good, and what do they do on the plane?

S: They perform operations and the plane is also used as a teaching centre to train local doctors and nurses.

T: Well done. How do they train the local doctors?

S1: They teach them new skills and share knowledge with them.

S2: They can even watch operations on video.

T: Yeah, on the plane, they train local doctors. Have you ever heard of a saying: It’s nice to give a person a fish, but it is better to teach him how to fish?

Ss: Yes.

T: By training local doctors and nurses, they can help even more people.

【设计说明】：突出logo中飞机的象征意义，重点讲述ORBIS的工作方式。

3. Logo3:

T: Just now I talked about the logo, and now I add something new to it. Let’s look at it again. (Showing the slide).

T: Do you think it looks like a circle?

Ss: Yeah.

T: But here a small part is missing, what does it mean? It means there are still some places where ORBIS can’t go to help. It needs more help.

Ss: Oh.

T: Now read Question6 and its answer and see what they need.

T: What is needed to carry on with the work?

S: Enough money is needed.

T: And what does Dr Ma hope?

S: He hopes people will support their work by sending donations to ORBIS.

【设计说明】：大胆地改动了一下logo，奇妙地引出Dr. Ma的希望。

Step4. Be a critical reader

T: After reading the interview, we have learnt a lot about ORBIS. But should we believe everything in the interview?

Ss: (hesitating a moment) Maybe not.

T: It’s important for to be an independent reader, that is to say, we should have our own ideas about what we have read. For example, let’s look at a sentence in the interview: We hope more people will support us by sending donations to us.

T: Do you think it is a good way to donate money to ORBIS? If you think it’s a good way, why? And how can we raise more money? If not, why not? Do you have a better way to support it?

(Ss are discussing in groups.)

T: What’s your opinion?

S1: I think it’s a good way to donate money to ORBIS. With more money, theycan improve the lives of the patients and help them.

S2: And we can advertise on the Internet to let more people know about ORBIS, and then more money will be donated.

S3: We also can hold a charity show to raise more money.

S4: I don’t think so. It was reported that the collected money wasn’t used in a right way. Sometimes our donations can’t go to the poor people.

S5: Maybe when I grow up, I’d like to be volunteer doctor.

T: ORBIS is a great charity. It helps the blind people see again and takes love around the earth. If more people can give a helping hand, then ORBIS can work better. You can donate some money, or work as a volunteer. Whatever you do, your love will make a difference.

T: That’s it. Now read Question4, Question 5 and their answers. And then answer me some questions.

(Students are reading silently.)

T: For Dr. Ma, is there anything different between working with ORBIS and working in his hospital?

S1: During his last visit, He operated on 150 patients on the plane. When he worked in a hospital, he used to do only two or three operations a day.

S2: Dr. Ma feels much more tired when he worked with ORBIS.

T: Is Dr. Ma unhappy about this?

S: No. Instead, he’s proud to be able to help so many people.

T: Yes, although it is very tiring, Dr. Ma is proud to be a volunteer. Volunteer work started in the 1990s in the UK and USA. It’s a new thing in China. In 2008, two big things made it well-known to most Chinese people. What are they?

S1: In the 2008 Olympic Games, Chinese college students worked as volunteers.

S2: Also in 2008. A big earthquake happened in Wenchuan. Many Chinese people went there and did volunteer work.

T: Yes, you’re right. By the way, how many of you have ever worked as a volunteer? If yes, please put up your hands.

(Only three students put up their hands.)

T: It’s a pity that only a few of you have worked as a volunteer. Why not? Have a short discussion and list the reasons.

(Ss are discussing in groups.)

T: OK, what’s your idea?

S1: Too much schoolwork, you know. I can’t spare time.

S2: Maybe I’m too young to be a volunteer.

S3: Actually, I want to, but I don’t know how to take part in it.

S4: What we can do are things like cleaning the street, chatting with old people. We have done the same things several times. They are very boring.

T: It’s meaningful to work as a volunteer. In the future, what kind of volunteer do you want to be? Why?

(Ss are discussing in groups.)

S1: I want to be a volunteer in the big events like the Olympic Games.

S2: If an earthquake or a hurricane happens, I will work as a volunteer.

S3: I want to be a volunteer to help the old. They’re very lonely, and they need someone to talk to.

S4: I will help the homeless children. I can go to them and play with them, I’ll share my toys and new books with them.

(There goes the bell..)

T: All of you are very warm-hearted. No matter we volunteer to do, our love will make a big difference. Thanks for your cooperation. That’s all for the lesson. Thank you, again. Bye.